Prioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) may identify at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report have different priorities. The UE may transmit the positioning report via the at least one communication resource, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/076,752, filed Sep. 10, 2020, entitled “PRIORITIZATION OFPOSITIONING-RELATED REPORTS IN UPLINK,” which is assigned to theassignee hereof and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speeddata, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G)service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presentlymany different types of wireless communication systems in use, includingcellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples ofknown cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phonesystem (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobilecommunication (GSM), etc.

A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio(NR), calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers ofconnections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5Gstandard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, isdesigned to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second toeach of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens ofworkers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands ofsimultaneous connections should be supported in order to support largesensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobilecommunications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced andlatency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or moreaspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not beconsidered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects,nor should the following summary be considered to identify key orcritical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineatethe scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, thefollowing summary has the sole purpose to present certain conceptsrelating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosedherein in a simplified form to precede the detailed descriptionpresented below.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE) includes identifying at least one communication resourcefrom a plurality of communication resources for transmitting apositioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities; andtransmitting the positioning report via the at least one communicationresource, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises atleast one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a networkentity includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information formapping a positioning report to at least one communication resource froma plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities;receiving, from the UE, a positioning report via at least one of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport; and determining a priority of the positioning report based onthe at least one of the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report, wherein the at least onecommunication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control(MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radiobearer (SRB).

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: identify at least one communication resource from aplurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioningreport, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities; andtransmit, via the at least one transceiver, the positioning report viathe at least one communication resource, wherein the at least onecommunication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control(MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radiobearer (SRB).

In an aspect, a network entity includes a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a userequipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at leastone communication resource from a plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities; receive, via the at least one transceiver, fromthe UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report; anddetermine a priority of the positioning report based on the at least oneof the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report, wherein the at least one communication resourcecomprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element(MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on theaccompanying drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description ofexamples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter and areprovided solely for illustration of the examples and not limitationthereof:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system,according to various aspects.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures,according to various aspects.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sampleaspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), abase station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured tosupport communications as taught herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating example frame structures andchannels within the frame structures, according to aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of best physical layer latency in newradio (NR).

FIG. 6 illustrates an analysis of potential opportunities to reducelatency for positioning methods using positioning reference signals orsounding reference signals.

FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate exemplary methods of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description andrelated drawings directed to various examples provided for illustrationpurposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from thescope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of thedisclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

To overcome the technical disadvantages of conventional systems andmethods described above, mechanisms by which the bandwidth (BW) used bya user equipment (UE) for positioning reference signal (PRS) can bedynamically adjusted, e.g., response to environmental conditions, arepresented. For example, a UE receiver may indicate to a transmittingentity a condition of the environment in which the UE is operating, andin response the transmitting entity may adjust the PRS bandwidth.

The words “exemplary” and “example” are used herein to mean “serving asan example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as“exemplary” or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferredor advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of thedisclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure includethe discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information andsignals described below may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the description below may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending inpart on the particular application, in part on the desired design, inpart on the corresponding technology, etc.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions tobe performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will berecognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s)of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that,upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of adevice to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the variousaspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of differentforms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of theclaimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects describedherein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be describedherein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the describedaction.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” arenot intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radioaccess technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may beany wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch,glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.),vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet ofThings (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wirelesscommunications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certaintimes) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network(RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeablyas an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,”a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,”a “user terminal” (UT), a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a“mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicatewith a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs canbe connected with external networks such as the Internet and with otherUEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network, tothe Internet, or to both are also possible for the UEs, such as overwired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks(e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.) and so on.

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs incommunication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed,and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a networknode, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), aNew Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A basestation may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs,including supporting data, voice, signaling connections, or variouscombinations thereof for the supported UEs. In some systems a basestation may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in othersystems it may provide additional control functions, network managementfunctions, or both. A communication link through which UEs can sendsignals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., areverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel,etc.). A communication link through which the base station can sendsignals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g.,a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forwardtraffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH)can refer to either an uplink/reverse or downlink/forward trafficchannel.

The term “base station” may refer to a single physicaltransmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that mayor may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station”refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna ofthe base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) ofthe base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multipleco-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas(e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where thebase station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term“base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, thephysical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network ofspatially separated antennas connected to a common source via atransport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base stationconnected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-locatedphysical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurementreport from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radiofrequency (RF) signals (or simply “reference signals”) the UE ismeasuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base stationtransmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references totransmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood asreferring to a particular TRP of the base station.

In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base stationmay not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data,voice, signaling connections, or various combinations thereof for UEs),but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by theUEs, may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs, or both.Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g.,when transmitting signals to UEs), as a location measurement unit (e.g.,when receiving and measuring signals from UEs), or both.

An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequencythat transports information through the space between a transmitter anda receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RFsignal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receivermay receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RFsignal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals throughmultipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different pathsbetween the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath”RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a“wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from thecontext that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RFsignal.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system 100according to various aspects. The wireless communications system 100(which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN))may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The basestations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellularbase stations), small cell base stations (low power cellular basestations), or both. In an aspect, the macro cell base station mayinclude eNBs, ng-eNBs, or both, where the wireless communications system100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wirelesscommunications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combinationof both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells,picocells, microcells, etc.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with acore network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC))through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one ormore location servers 172 (which may be part of core network 170 or maybe external to core network 170). In addition to other functions, thebase stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more oftransferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering,integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions(e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interferencecoordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distributionfor non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection,synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service(MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management(RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The basestations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly(e.g., through the EPC/5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wiredor wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cellsmay be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communicationwith a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to asa carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), andmay be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier(PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI))for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrierfrequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according todifferent protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC),narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others)that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell issupported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer toeither or both of the logical communication entity and the base stationthat supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRPis typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell”and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell”may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., asector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used forcommunication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of thegeographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by alarger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell basestation 102′ may have a coverage area 110′ that substantially overlapswith the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell basestations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cellbase stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousnetwork may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service toa restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissionsfrom a UE 104 to a base station 102, downlink (also referred to asforward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104, orboth. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology,including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, transmit diversity, orvarious combinations thereof. The communication links 120 may be throughone or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may beasymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or lesscarriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication withWLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152, the WLAN AP 150, or variouscombinations thereof may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) orlisten before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order todetermine whether the channel is available.

The small cell base station 102′ may operate in a licensed, anunlicensed frequency spectrum, or both. When operating in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102′ may employ LTE orNR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum asused by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102′, employingLTE/5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to theaccess network, increase capacity of the access network, or both. NR inunlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensedspectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), orMulteFire.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeterwave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies, in nearmmW frequencies, or a combination thereof in communication with a UE182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in theelectromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and awavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in thisband may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend downto a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The superhigh frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, alsoreferred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW/near mmWradio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range.The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming(transmit, receive, or both) over a mmW communication link 184 tocompensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, itwill be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more basestations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming.Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations aremerely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspectsdisclosed herein.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in aspecific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a basestation) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in alldirections (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the networknode determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located(relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a strongerdownlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing afaster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receivingdevice(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal whentransmitting, a network node can control the phase and relativeamplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters thatare broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use anarray of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antennaarray”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to pointin different directions, without actually moving the antennas.Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to theindividual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that theradio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase theradiation in a desired direction, while canceling to suppress radiationin undesired directions.

Transmit beams may be quasi-collocated, meaning that they appear to thereceiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless ofwhether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselvesare physically collocated. In NR, there are four types ofquasi-collocation (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of agiven type means that certain parameters about a second reference RFsignal on a second beam can be derived from information about a sourcereference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RFsignal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RFsignal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, anddelay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andDoppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andaverage delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receiveparameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel.

In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RFsignals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver canincrease the gain setting, adjust the phase setting, or a combinationthereof, of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify(e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from thatdirection. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certaindirection, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative tothe beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that directionis the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all otherreceive beams available to the receiver. This results in a strongerreceived signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP),reference signal received quality (RSRQ),signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signalsreceived from that direction.

Receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means thatparameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal can bederived from information about a receive beam for a first referencesignal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receiveone or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioningreference signals (PRS), narrowband reference signals (NRS) trackingreference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS),cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signals (PSS),secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks(SSBs), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beamfor sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplinkpositioning reference signals (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS),demodulation reference signals (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to that base stationbased on the parameters of the receive beam.

Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receivebeam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base stationis forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, thedownlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlinkbeam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink referencesignal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or areceive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a basestation is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and ifa UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., basestations 102/180, UEs 104/182) operate is divided into multiplefrequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In amulti-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies isreferred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primaryserving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies arereferred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or“SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrieroperating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radioresource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiatesthe RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carriercarries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrierin a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). Asecondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g.,FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is establishedbetween the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used toprovide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carriermay be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier maycontain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example,those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier,since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typicallyUE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may havedifferent downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplinkprimary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier ofany UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance theload on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell oran SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency/component carrier overwhich some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “servingcell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can beused interchangeably.

For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilizedby the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or“PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations102, the mmW base station 180, or a combination thereof may be secondarycarriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission, reception, or bothof multiple carriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increaseits data transmission rates, reception rates, or both. For example, two20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoreticallylead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared tothat attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or moreUEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or morecommunication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D)peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example ofFIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connectedto one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 mayindirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 withWLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 mayindirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, theD2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT,such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 thatmay communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communicationlink 120, with the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link184, or a combination thereof. For example, the macro cell base station102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and themmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. Forexample, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC))can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214(e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gatewayselection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UEgateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) whichoperate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface(NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 tothe 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and controlplane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, anng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to thecontrol plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212.Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaulconnection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations includeone or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of theUEs described herein).

Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may bein communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance forUE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality ofseparate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different softwaremodules on a single server, different software modules spread acrossmultiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond toa single server. The location server 230 can be configured to supportone or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to thelocation server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via theInternet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may beintegrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may beexternal to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as anoriginal equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. A5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewedfunctionally as control plane functions, provided by an access andmobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions,provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperativelyto form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264include registration management, connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, lawful interception, transport forsession management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., anyof the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF)266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, accessauthentication and access authorization, transport for short messageservice (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message servicefunction (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF).The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF)(not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that wasestablished as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In thecase of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobiletelecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of theAMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receivesa key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys.The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location servicesmanagement for regulatory services, transport for location servicesmessages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270(which acts as a location server 230), transport for location servicesmessages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system(EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supportsfunctionalities for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)access networks.

Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point forintra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an externalprotocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network(not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection,user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, trafficsteering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usagereporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g.,uplink/downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in thedownlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoSflow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink anddownlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” tothe source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of locationservices messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a locationserver, such as an SLP 272.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internetprotocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and controlof user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part ofpolicy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. Theinterface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 isreferred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be incommunication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers(e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on asingle server, different software modules spread across multiplephysical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a singleserver. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more locationservices for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the corenetwork, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a controlplane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signalingmessages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a userplane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and/or data likethe transmission control protocol (TCP) and/or IP).

Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, whichmay be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260(e.g., via the AMF 264 and/or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and/or theUE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) forthe UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may bereferred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client.The third-party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separateservers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software moduleson a single server, different software modules spread across multiplephysical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a singleserver.

User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one ormore gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interfacebetween gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred toas the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and/orng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. ThegNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicatedirectly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to asthe “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 maycommunicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referredto as the “Uu” interface.

The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit(gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and oneor more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical nodethat includes the base station functions of transferring user data,mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, sessionmanagement, and the like, except for those functions allocatedexclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptationprotocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocolsof the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts theradio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of thegNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only onegNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or moregNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “F1” interface. The physical (PHY)layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or morestandalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as poweramplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between agNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus,a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCPlayers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU229 via the PHY layer.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (representedby corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (whichmay correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304(which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), anda network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of thenetwork functions described herein, including the location server 230and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220and/or 5GC 210/260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as aprivate network) to support the file transmission operations as taughtherein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implementedin different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., inan ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated componentsmay also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communicationsystem. For example, other apparatuses in a system may includecomponents similar to those described to provide similar functionality.Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. Forexample, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components thatenable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicatevia different technologies.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wirelesswide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively,providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, meansfor receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means forrefraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wirelesscommunication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTEnetwork, a GSM network, and/or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356,respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as otherUEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at leastone designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wirelesscommunication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time/frequencyresources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encodingsignals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and soon), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and soon), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically,the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively,for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in somecases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360,respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may beconnected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and providemeans for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means forreceiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refrainingfrom transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs,access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT(e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicatedshort-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicularenvironments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), etc.) over awireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wirelesstransceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmittingand encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications,information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receivingand decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications,information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with thedesignated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, fortransmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one ormore receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decodingsignals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-rangewireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth®transceivers, Zigbee® and/or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, orvehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X)transceivers.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in somecases, satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signalreceivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuringsatellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively.Where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellitepositioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communicationsignals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals,global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals,Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC),Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where the satellite signalreceivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, thesatellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may becommunication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data)originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and370 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving andprocessing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378,respectively. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may requestinformation and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and,at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations ofthe UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurementsobtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or morenetwork transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means forcommunicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.)with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, othernetwork entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ theone or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other basestations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wirelessbackhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employthe one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or morebase station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, orwith other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless corenetwork interfaces.

A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wirelesslink. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wirelesstransceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314,324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352,362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodyingtransmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in someimplementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry andseparate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodiedin other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry andreceiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wirednetwork interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g.,transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to aplurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as anantenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, basestation 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein.Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352,362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g.,antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits therespective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receivebeamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmittercircuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality ofantennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respectiveapparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at thesame time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350,short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include anetwork listen module (NLM) or the like for performing variousmeasurements.

As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in someimplementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “atransceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.”As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wirelesstransceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed.For example, backhaul communication between network devices or serverswill generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereaswireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station(e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via awireless transceiver.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 alsoinclude other components that may be used in conjunction with theoperations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, andthe network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394,respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example,wireless communication, and for providing other processingfunctionality. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may therefore providemeans for processing, such as means for determining, means forcalculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means forindicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 mayinclude, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-coreprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), otherprogrammable logic devices or processing circuitry, or variouscombinations thereof.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 includememory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., eachincluding a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information(e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds,parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may thereforeprovide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining,etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the networkentity 306 may include positioning component 342, 388, and 398,respectively. The positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may behardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332,384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, thebase station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform thefunctionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioningcomponent 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384,and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated withanother processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioningcomponent 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processingsystem, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the networkentity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3Aillustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, whichmay be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, thememory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof,or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locationsof the positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of theone or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or moreprocessors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalonecomponent. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the positioningcomponent 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or morenetwork transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one ormore processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting movementand/or orientation information that is independent of motion dataderived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310,the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or thesatellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 mayinclude an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems(MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), analtimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and/or any other typeof movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include aplurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs inorder to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 mayuse a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensorsto provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D)and/or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing meansfor providing indications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to auser and/or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of asensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on).Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 mayalso include user interfaces.

Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in thedownlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to theprocessor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implementfunctionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol(PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium accesscontrol (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRClayer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information(e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks(SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRCconnection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRCconnection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configurationfor UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated withheader compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover supportfunctions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upperlayer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ),concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units(SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC dataPDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping betweenlogical channels and transport channels, scheduling informationreporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1)functionality associated with various signal processing functions.Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include errordetection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching,mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handlesmapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes(e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying(QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with areference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, andthen combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) toproduce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream.The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatialstreams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used todetermine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatialprocessing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signaland/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Eachspatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Thereceiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information torecover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatialstreams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by thereceiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 thenconverts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequencydomain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signalcomprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDMsignal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, arerecovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signalconstellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These softdecisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channelestimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved torecover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted bythe base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and controlsignals are then provided to the one or more processors 332, whichimplements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 332 provides demultiplexingbetween transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering,header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IPpackets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are alsoresponsible for error detection.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlinktransmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information(e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionalityassociated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs,re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks(TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request(HARD), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used bythe transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s)316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors384.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexingbetween transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering,header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packetsfrom the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may beprovided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are alsoresponsible for error detection.

For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and/or the networkentity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including variouscomponents that may be configured according to the various examplesdescribed herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustratedcomponents may have different functionality in different designs. Inparticular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional inalternative configurations and the various aspects includeconfigurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of thedevice, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, aparticular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310(e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may haveWi-Fi and/or Bluetooth capability without cellular capability), or mayomit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only,etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit thesensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, aparticular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWANtransceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point withoutcellular capability), or may omit the short-range wirelesstransceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit thesatellite receiver 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of thevarious alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would bereadily understandable to one skilled in the art.

The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and thenetwork entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other overdata buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses334, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface ofthe UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306,respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodiedin the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionalityincorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382,and 392 may provide communication between them.

The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in variousways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3Cmay be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one ormore processors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or moreprocessors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least onememory component for storing information or executable code used by thecircuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of thefunctionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented byprocessor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution ofappropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processorcomponents). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented byblocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memorycomponent(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriatecode and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also,some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may beimplemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriateconfiguration of processor components). For simplicity, variousoperations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as beingperformed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc.However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functionsmay actually be performed by specific components or combinations ofcomponents of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.,such as the processors 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350,and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 342,388, and 398, etc.

In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a corenetwork component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may bedistinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular networkinfrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260). For example, thenetwork entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may beconfigured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 orindependently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellularcommunication link, such as WiFi).

NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies,including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-basedpositioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observedtime difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference ofarrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR.In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, a UE measures thedifferences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals(e.g., PRS, TRS, narrowband reference signal (NRS), CSI-RS, SSB, etc.)received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signaltime difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA)measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. Morespecifically, the UE receives the identifiers of a reference basestation (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference basestations in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between thereference base station and each of the non-reference base stations.Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTDmeasurements, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location. ForDL-AoD positioning, a base station measures the angle and other channelproperties (e.g., signal strength) of the downlink transmit beam used tocommunicate with a UE to estimate the location of the UE.

Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference ofarrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA issimilar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS)transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, a base station measuresthe angle and other channel properties (e.g., gain level) of the uplinkreceive beam used to communicate with a UE to estimate the location ofthe UE.

Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID(E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (alsoreferred to as “multi-cell RTT”). In an RTT procedure, an initiator (abase station or a UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., a PRSor SRS) to a responder (a UE or base station), which transmits an RTTresponse signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTTresponse signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTTmeasurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal,referred to as the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurement. Theinitiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of theRTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, referredto as the “Tx-Rx” measurement. The propagation time (also referred to asthe “time of flight”) between the initiator and the responder can becalculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements. Based on thepropagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between theinitiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTTpositioning, a UE performs an RTT procedure with multiple base stationsto enable its location to be triangulated based on the known locationsof the base stations. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined withother positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improvelocation accuracy.

The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM)measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timingadvance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strengthof detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is thenestimated based on this information and the known locations of the basestations.

To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., locationserver 172, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. Forexample, the assistance data may include identifiers of the basestations (or the cells/TRPs of the base stations) from which to measurereference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g.,the number of consecutive positioning slots, periodicity of positioningslots, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signalidentifier (ID), reference signal bandwidth, slot offset, etc.), otherparameters applicable to the particular positioning method, or acombination thereof. Alternatively, the assistance data may originatedirectly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodicallybroadcasted overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be ableto detect neighbor network nodes itself without the use of assistancedata.

A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as aposition estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. Alocation estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g.,latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprisea street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of alocation. A location estimate may further be defined relative to someother known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude,longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include anexpected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volumewithin which the location is expected to be included with some specifiedor default level of confidence).

Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplinktransmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs).

FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a downlink framestructure, according to aspects.

FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of channels within thedownlink frame structure, according to aspects. Other wirelesscommunications technologies may have different frame structures,different channels, or both.

LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink andsingle-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink.Unlike LTE, however, NR has an option to use OFDM on the uplink as well.OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K)orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones,bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general,modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in thetime domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may befixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on thesystem bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15kHz and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may beequal to 128, 256, 504, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5,5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth mayalso be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.8MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz,respectively.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length,etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), forexample, subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240kHz or greater may be available. Table 1 provided below lists somevarious parameters for different NR numerologies.

TABLE 1 Parameters For Different NR Numerologies Slot Symbol Max.nominal Sym- Slots/ Dura- Dura- system BW SCS bols/ Sub- Slots/ tiontion (MHz) with μ (kHz) Sot frame Frame (ms) (μs) 4K FFT size 0 15 14 110 1 66.7 50 1 30 14 2 20 0.5 33.3 100 2 60 14 4 40 0.25 16.7 200 3 12014 8 80 0.125 8.33 400 4 240 14 16 160 0.0625 4.17 800

In the example of FIGS. 4A and 4B, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus,in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes onetime slot. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, time is represented horizontally (e.g.,on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequencyis represented vertically (e.g., on the Y axis) with frequencyincreasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slotincluding one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (alsoreferred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. Theresource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs).An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and onesubcarrier in the frequency domain. In NR, a subframe is 1 ms induration, a slot is fourteen symbols in the time domain, and an RBcontains twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain andfourteen consecutive symbols in the time domain. Thus, in NR there isone RB per slot. Depending on the SCS, an NR subframe may have fourteensymbols, twenty-eight symbols, or more, and thus may have 1 slot, 2slots, or more. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on themodulation scheme.

Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). TheDL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc.FIG. 4A illustrates exemplary locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled“R”).

A “PRS instance” or “PRS occasion” is one instance of a periodicallyrepeated time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive slots)where PRS are expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also bereferred to as a “PRS positioning occasion,” a “PRS positioninginstance, a “positioning occasion,” “a positioning instance,” a“positioning repetition,” or simply an “occasion,” an “instance,” or a“repetition.”

A collection of resource elements (REs) that are used for transmissionof PRS is referred to as a “PRS resource.” The collection of resourceelements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and ‘N’ (e.g., 1or more) consecutive symbol(s) within a slot in the time domain. In agiven OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupiesconsecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a particularcomb size (also referred to as the “comb density”). A comb size ‘N’represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency/tone spacing) withineach symbol of a PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a combsize ‘N,’ PRS are transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of aPRB. For example, for comb-4, for each of the fourth symbols of the PRSresource configuration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier(e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit PRS of the PRSresource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12are supported for DL PRS. FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary PRS resourceconfiguration for comb-6 (which spans six symbols). That is, thelocations of the shaded REs (labeled “R”) indicate a comb-6 PRS resourceconfiguration.

A “PRS resource set” is a set of PRS resources used for the transmissionof PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Inaddition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated withthe same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set IDand is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Inaddition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the sameperiodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the samerepetition factor (e.g., PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor) across slots. Theperiodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRSresource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of thesame first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity mayhave a length selected from 2^(μ)·{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80,160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5040, 10240} slots, with μ=0, 1, 2, 3. Therepetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16,32} slots.

A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam(or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit oneor more beams). That is, each PRS resource of a PRS resource set may betransmitted on a different beam, and as such, a “PRS resource,” orsimply “resource,” can also be referred to as a “beam.” Note that thisdoes not have any implications on whether the TRPs and the beams onwhich PRS are transmitted are known to the UE.

A “positioning frequency layer” (also referred to simply as a “frequencylayer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one ormore TRPs that have the same values for certain parameters.Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the samesubcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning allnumerologies supported for the PDSCH are also supported for PRS), thesame Point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the samestart PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb-size. The Point Aparameter takes the value of the parameter ARFCN-ValueNR (where “ARFCN”stands for “absolute radio-frequency channel number”) and is anidentifier/code that specifies a pair of physical radio channel used fortransmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have agranularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and upto two PRS resource sets may be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat like the concept ofcomponent carriers and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but different in thatcomponent carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit datachannels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three ormore) base stations to transmit PRS. A UE may indicate the number offrequency layers it can support when it sends the network itspositioning capabilities, such as during an LTE positioning protocol(LPP) session. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support oneor four positioning frequency layers.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of various channels within a downlinkslot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth, or systembandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set ofPRBs selected from a contiguous subset of the common RBs for a givennumerology on a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can bespecified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configuredwith up to four BWPs on the downlink, and up to four BWPs on the uplink.Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) may be active at a given time, meaningthe UE may only receive or transmit over one BWP at a time. On thedownlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater thanthe bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain the SSB.

Referring to FIG. 4B, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used bya UE to determine subframe/symbol timing and a physical layer identity.A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by a UE to determine aphysical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Basedon the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identitygroup number, the UE can determine a PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE candetermine the locations of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH), which carries an MIB, may be logically groupedwith the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as an SS/PBCH).The MIB provides a number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and asystem frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted throughthe PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink controlinformation (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs),each CCE including one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may spanmultiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle including one ormore REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resourceblock) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain.The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH/DCI is referred toin NR as the control resource set (CORESET). In NR, a PDCCH is confinedto a single CORESET and is transmitted with its own DMRS. This enablesUE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

In the example of FIG. 4B, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESETspans three symbols (although it could be only one or two symbols) inthe time domain. Unlike LTE control channels, which occupy the entiresystem bandwidth, in NR, PDCCH channels are localized to a specificregion in the frequency domain (i.e., a CORESET). Thus, the frequencycomponent of the PDCCH shown in FIG. 4B is illustrated as less than asingle BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustratedCORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, it need not be. Inaddition, the CORESET may span less than three symbols in the timedomain.

The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resourceallocation (persistent and non-persistent) and descriptions aboutdownlink data transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIscan be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of multipleformats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplinkscheduling, for non-MIMO downlink scheduling, for MIMO downlinkscheduling, and for uplink power control. A PDCCH may be transported by1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs in order to accommodate different DCI payloadsizes or coding rates.

PRS are defined for NR positioning to enable UEs to detect and measureneighboring TRPs. Several configuration are supported to enable avariety of deployments (indoor, outdoor, sub-6, millimeter wave (mmW),and others). Both UE assisted and UE based position calculation issupported in Release 16 and 17.

TABLE 2 Reference Signals For Positioning In NR To facilitate supportDL/UL Reference of the following Signals UE Measurements positioningtechniques Rel. 16 DL PRS DL RSTD DL-TDOA Rel. 16 DL PRS DL PRS RSRPDL-TDOA, DL-AoD, Multi-RTT Rel. 16 DL PRS/ UE Rx-Tx time differenceMulti-RTT Rel. 16 SRS for positioning Rel. 15 SSB/CSI- SS-RSRP(RSRP forRRM), E-CID RS for RRM SS-RSRQ(for RRM), CSI-RSRP (for RRM), CSI-RSRQ(for RRM)

Logical channel prioritization (LCP) is a procedure that is appliedwhenever a new transmission is performed by the UE. LCP includes rulesthat determine what logical channels (which are MAC layer entities) thatthe UE can include in an UL transmission when the UE receives an ULgrant.

For data, RRC controls the scheduling of uplink data by signalling, foreach logical channel per MAC entity, the following:

-   -   priority where an increasing priority value indicates a lower        priority level;    -   prioritisedBitRate, which sets the Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR);    -   bucketSizeDuration, which sets the Bucket Size Duration (BSD).

RRC additionally controls the LCP procedure by configuring mappingrestrictions for each logical channel, which may include the following:

-   -   allowedSCS-List, which sets the allowed Subcarrier Spacing(s)        for transmission;    -   maxPUSCH-Duration, which sets the maximum PUSCH duration allowed        for transmission;    -   configuredGrantType1Allowed, which sets whether a configured        grant Type 1 can be used for transmission;    -   allowedServingCells, which sets the allowed cell(s) for        transmission;    -   allowedCG-List, which sets the allowed configured grant(s) for        transmission;    -   allowedPHY-PriorityIndex, which sets the allowed PHY priority        index(es) of a dynamic grant for transmission.

The following UE variable is used for the Logical channel prioritizationprocedure:

-   -   Bj, which is maintained for each logical channel j.

LCP includes a filtering process, which excludes from considerationlogical channels that do not meet requirements defined by the UL grant.When a new transmission is to be performed, the MAC entity will selectthe logical channels for each UL grant that satisfy all of the followingconditions:

-   -   The set of allowed Subcarrier Spacing index values in        allowedSCS-List, if configured, includes the Subcarrier Spacing        index associated to the UL grant; and    -   The maxPUSCH-Duration, if configured, is larger than or equal to        the PUSCH transmission duration associated to the UL grant; and    -   The configuredGrantType1Allowed, if configured, is set to true        in case the UL grant is a Configured Grant Type 1; and    -   The allowedServingCells, if configured, includes the Cell        information associated to the UL grant. Does not apply to        logical channels associated with a dedicated radio bearer (DRB)        configured with PDCP duplication within the same MAC entity        (i.e. CA duplication) for which PDCP duplication is deactivated;        and    -   The allowedCG-List, if configured, includes the configured grant        index associated to the UL grant; and    -   The allowedPHY-PriorityIndex, if configured, includes the        priority index (as specified in clause 9 of 3GPP technical        specification (TS) 38.213) associated to the dynamic UL grant.

The Subcarrier Spacing index, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)transmission duration, Cell information, and priority index are includedin Uplink transmission information received from lower layers for thecorresponding scheduled uplink transmission.

LCP includes a prioritization process, which prioritizes logicalchannels that were not excluded by the filtering process. Logicalchannels will be added for inclusion in the UL transmission in order orpriority until there is no more space for additional logical channels.Thus, lower-priority logical channels may not be included if there isnot enough space for them in the UL transmission. Logical channels shallbe prioritized in accordance with the following order (highest prioritylisted first):

TABLE 3 Conventional Logical Channel Priority MAC CE for cell radionetwork temporary identifier (C-RNTI), or Data from UL common controlchannel (CCCH) MAC CE for configured grant (CG) confirmation, or MAC CEfor multiple entry CG confirmation, or MAC CE for beam failure recovery(BFR)* MAC CE for sidelink (SL) CG Confirmation MAC CE forlisten-before-talk (LBT) failure MAC CE for SL buffer status report(BSR) prioritized according to clause 5.22.1.6 MAC CE for BSR, exceptfor BSR included for padding MAC CE for single entry power headroomreport (PHR), or MAC CE for multiple entry PHR MAC CE for the number ofdesired guard symbols MAC CE for pre-emptive BSR MAC CE for SL-BSR,except for SL-BSR prioritized according to clause 5.22.1.6 and SL-BSRincluded for padding Data from any Logical Channel, except data fromUL-CCCH MAC CE for recommended bit rate query MAC CE for BSR includedfor padding MAC CE for SL-BSR included for padding *Prioritization amongMAC CE for CG confirmation, MAC CE for multiple entry CG confirmation,and MAC CE for BFR is up to UE implementation.

Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) are defined as Radio Bearers (RBs) thatare used only for the transmission of RRC and NAS messages. Morespecifically, the following SRBs are defined:

TABLE 4 Conventional Signaling Radio Bearers SRB0 is for RRC messagesusing the CCCH logical channel; SRB1 is for RRC messages (which mayinclude a piggybacked NAS message) as well as for NAS messages prior tothe establishment of SRB2, all using dedicated control channel (DCCH)logical channels; SRB2 is for NAS (which may include LPP) messages, allusing DCCH logical channel. SRB2 has a lower-priority than SRB1 and isalways configured by the network after security activation; SRB3 is forspecific RRC messages when UE is in EUTRAN new radio dual connectivity(EN-DC), all using DCCH logical channel.

In downlink, piggybacking of NAS messages is used only for bearerestablishment/modification/release. In uplink, piggybacking of NASmessage is used only for transferring the initial NAS message duringconnection setup and connection resume. Once security is activated, allRRC messages on SRB1, SRB2 and SRB3, including those containing NASmessages, are integrity protected and ciphered by PDCP. NASindependently applies integrity protection and ciphering to the NASmessages. LPP is encapsulated within NAS, which is encapsulated withinRRC.

TABLE 5 Default SRB Configurations Parameters Name SRB1/1S SRB2/2S SRB3PDCP-Config t-Reordering infinity RLC-Config CHOICE Am ul-RLC-Configsn-FieldLength size12 t-PollRetransmit ms45 pollPDU infinity pollByteinfinity maxRetxThreshold t8 dl-RLC-Config sn-FieldLength size12t-Reassembly ms35 logicalChannelIdentity 1 2 3 logicalChannelConfigpriority 1 3 1 prioritisedBitRate infinity logicalChannelGroup 0

Positioning quality of service (QoS) is indicated by an informationelement (IE). This IE indicates the quality of service and includes anumber of sub-fields. In the case of measurements, some of thesub-fields apply to the location estimate that could be obtained by theserver from the measurements provided by the target device assuming thatthe measurements are the only sources of error. The fields are asfollows:

-   -   horizontalAccuracy indicates the maximum horizontal error in the        location estimate at an indicated confidence level. The        ‘accuracy’ corresponds to the encoded uncertainty as defined in        TS 23.32 [15] and ‘confidence’ corresponds to confidence as        defined in TS 23.32 [15].    -   verticalCoordinateRequest indicates whether a vertical        coordinate is required (TRUE) or not (FALSE).    -   verticalAccuracy indicates the maximum vertical error in the        location estimate at an indicated confidence level and is only        applicable when a vertical coordinate is requested. The        ‘accuracy’ corresponds to the encoded uncertainty altitude as        defined in TS 23.32 [15] and ‘confidence’ corresponds to        confidence as defined in TS 23.32 [15].    -   response Time:        -   time indicates the maximum response time as measured between            receipt of the RequestLocationInformation and transmission            of a ProvideLocationInformation. If the unit field is            absent, this is given as an integer number of seconds            between 1 and 128. If the unit field is present, the maximum            response time is given in units of 10-seconds, between 10            and 1280 seconds. If the periodicalReporting IE is included            in CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation, this field should            not be included by the location server and shall be ignored            by the target device (if included).        -   responseTimeEarlyFix indicates the maximum response time as            measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation            and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation containing            early location measurements or an early location estimate.            If the unit field is absent, this is given as an integer            number of seconds between 1 and 128. If the unit field is            present, the maximum response time is given in units of            10-seconds, between 10 and 1280 seconds. When this IE is            included, a target should send a ProvideLocationInformation            (or more than one ProvideLocationInformation if location            information will not fit into a single message) containing            early location information according to the            responseTimeEarlyFix IE and a subsequent            ProvideLocationInformation (or more than one            ProvideLocationInformation if location information will not            fit into a single message) containing final location            information according to the time IE. A target shall omit            sending a ProvideLocationInformation if the early location            information is not available at the expiration of the time            value in the responseTimeEarlyFix IE. A server should set            the responseTimeEarlyFix IE to a value less than that for            the time IE. A target shall ignore the responseTimeEarlyFix            IE if its value is not less than that for the time IE.        -   unit indicates the unit of the time and responseTimeEarlyFix            fields. Enumerated value ‘ten-seconds’ corresponds to a            resolution of 10 seconds. If this field is absent, the            unit/resolution is 1 second.    -   velocityRequest indicates whether velocity (or measurements        related to velocity) is requested (TRUE) or not (FALSE).    -   horizontalAccuracyExt indicates the maximum horizontal error in        the location estimate at an indicated confidence level. The        ‘accuracyExt’ corresponds to the encoded high accuracy        uncertainty as defined in TS 23.32 [15] and ‘confidence’        corresponds to confidence as defined in TS 23.32 [15]. This        field should not be included by the location server and shall be        ignored by the target device if the horizontalAccuracy field is        included in QoS.    -   verticalAccuracyExt indicates the maximum vertical error in the        location estimate at an indicated confidence level and is only        applicable when a vertical coordinate is requested. The        ‘accuracyExt’ corresponds to the encoded high accuracy        uncertainty as defined in TS 23.32 [15] and ‘confidence’        corresponds to confidence as defined in TS 23.32 [15]. This        field should not be included by the location server and shall be        ignored by the target device if the verticalAccuracy field is        included in QoS.

All QoS requirements shall be obtained by the target device to thedegree possible but it is permitted to return a response that does notfulfill all QoS requirements if some were not attainable. The singleexception is time and timeNB which shall always be fulfilled—even ifthat means not fulfilling other QoS requirements. A target devicesupporting NB-IoT access shall support the responseTimeNB IE. A targetdevice supporting high accuracy (HA) global navigation satellite system(GNSS) shall support the HorizontalAccuracyExt, VerticalAccuracyEx, andunit fields. A target device supporting NB-IoT access and HA GNSS shallsupport the unitNB field.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio access network(RAN) working group 1 (RAN1) has come to some agreements on latency. Theagreements include the following:

In Rel-17 target positioning requirements for commercial use cases aredefined as follows:

-   -   Horizontal position accuracy (<1 m) for [90%] of UEs;    -   Vertical position accuracy (<[2 or 3] m) for [90%] of UEs;    -   End-to-end latency for position estimation of UE (<[100 ms]);    -   For future study: Physical layer latency for position estimation        of UE (<[10 ms]).

In Rel-17 target positioning requirements for IIoT use cases are definedas follows:

-   -   Horizontal position accuracy (<X m) for [90%] of UEs:        -   X=[0.2 or 0.5] m;    -   Vertical position accuracy (<Y m) for [90%] of UEs:        -   Y=[0.2 or 1] m;    -   End-to-end latency for position estimation of UE [10 ms, 20 ms,        or 100 ms]);    -   For future study: Physical layer latency for position estimation        of UE [10 ms]). Note: Target positioning requirements may not        necessarily be reached for all scenarios.

Physical layer latency can be evaluated through analysis and,optionally, numerical evaluation.

Higher layer positioning latency can be evaluated.

-   -   For future study: which higher-layers should be included in the        evaluation;    -   For future study: Physical layer latency for position estimation        of UE [10 ms]).

FIG. 5 is a time-frequency graph 500 showing transmission and processingtiming in an example of best PHY-layer latency in NR. Starting from theleft side of the graph, the UE receives and measures a first positioningreference signal (PRS1), and starts processing PRS1. After PRS1, the UEtransmits PUSCH and a sounding reference signal (SRS), then receivesfirst downlink data (DLD1), during which time the UE continues toprocess PRS1. After DLD1, the UE again transmits PUSCH and SRS,including the results of processing PRS1. This process repeats,including receiving, processing, and reporting PRS2, and repeats again,including receiving, processing, and reporting PRS3, and so on. In thismanner, the UE sends a positioning report every 4 ms.

FIG. 6 illustrates an analysis 600 of the sources of latency forpositioning methods using PRS or SRS. Each iteration of positioningusing PRS or SRS includes the time 602 required for PHY-layertriggering, the timespan 604 of the PRS or SRS instance, the time 606for PRS processing to derive measurements and transmit them in thePUSCH, and the time 608 for reception of measurements, for computation,or for both, as well as the time for transmission to the client. RAN1 isfocusing on keeping the PHY layer latency to about 7 ms. PHY layertriggering would be applicable for a single-shot location request, andmay include configuration or trigger of aperiodic, semiperiodic, orperiodic PRS or SRS, as well as a request for a measurement gap (MG), ifneeded.

Thus, conventional methods of handling of positioning-related reportsrun the risk that the positioning-related information does not getreported in a timely manner because the positioning-related MAC CEs maynot make it into the UL transmission because they don't have sufficientpriority.

In order to address the deficiencies of conventional methods of handlingpositioning-related reports in uplink, the following methods andapparatus for performing the methods are provided.

Lower Layer Reporting (MAC-CE)

According to one aspect, if the UE reports positioning-relatedmeasurements, recommendations, requests, etc., to the network through anUL MAC-CE container, then in case of urgent or high-priority messages,or positioning sessions, or measurements, at least two different MAC-CElogical channel IDs are defined, each one associated with a differentpriority level in the ordered list of UL MAC-CE. An example modifiedtable of priorities is shown below:

TABLE 6 Modified Logical Channel Priority MAC CE for cell radio networktemporary identifier (C-RNTI), or Data from UL common control channel(CCCH), or MAC CE for positioning, high priority MAC CE for configuredgrant (CG) confirmation, or MAC CE for multiple entry CG confirmation,or MAC CE for beam failure recovery (BFR)* MAC CE for sidelink (SL) CGConfirmation MAC CE for listen-before-talk (LBT) failure MAC CE for SLbuffer status report (BSR) prioritized according to clause 5.22.1.6 MACCE for BSR, except for BSR included for padding MAC CE for single entrypower headroom report (PHR), or MAC CE for multiple entry PHR MAC CE forthe number of desired guard symbols MAC CE for pre-emptive BSR MAC CEfor SL-BSR, except for SL-BSR prioritized according to clause 5.22.1.6and SL-BSR included for padding Data from any Logical Channel, exceptdata from UL-CCCH, or MAC CE for positioning, low priority MAC CE forrecommended bit rate query MAC CE for BSR included for padding MAC CEfor SL-BSR included for padding *Prioritization among MAC CE for CGconfirmation, MAC CE for multiple entry CG confirmation, and MAC CE forBFR is up to UE implementation.

The modified logic channel priority table above provides a mechanism bywhich urgent or high priority MAC CEs for positioning have a higherlogical channel priority and are therefore more likely to be included inthe uplink. In some aspects, one MAC-CE logical channel ID is used forhigh priority reports and a different MAC-CE logical channel ID is usedfor low priority reports.

In some embodiments, there may be a relationship between priority and aQoS of the positioning signal. For example:

-   -   In some aspects the UE may be configured in the location request        with a configuration that instructs the UE to report        measurements, commands, recommendations, etc., to the network        using one or the other MAC CE, so that the network can control        whether it will be high or low priority the UE report.    -   In some aspects, positioning reports based on measurement of PRS        or other DL signals with high QoS may be given a higher priority        while positioning reports based on measurement of PRS or other        DL signals with low QoS may be given a lower priority, e.g.,        there may be an association between the positioning QoS and the        mapping into a high priority logical channel MAC-CE or a low        priority.    -   In some aspects, a separate message may be received by the        network that determines whether a specific positioning        request/session/set of measurements should be mapped into a high        or low priority MAC CE. In some aspects, that message may be        carried in an RRC or MAC-CE or LPP.    -   In some aspects, the UE may determine that a specific report is        a high-priority one depending on how it is triggered. For        example, if the report is triggered by DCI, or it is associated        with an on-demand/aperiodic/semi-persistent PRS, then the        corresponding measurements should be high priority.    -   In some aspects, any on-demand request by the UE (e.g., which        resources to be transmitted, which PRS resources to be used,        which TRPs to transmit PRS, etc.), may be associated with a high        priority MAC-CE.

Higher Layer Reporting

According to one aspect, if the UE reports positioning-relatedmeasurements, recommendations, requests, etc., to the network through anRRC container, then in case of urgent or high-priority messages, orpositioning sessions, or measurements, SRB1 or SRB2 priorities aredefined or reused to be associated with high and low priorities of thepositioning reports. For example:

-   -   In some aspects, the UE may be configured in the location        request with a configuration that instructs the UE to report        measurements, commands, recommendations, etc., to the network        using a specified one or another SRB, so that the network can        control whether it will be high or low priority the UE report.    -   In some aspects, positioning reports based on measurement of PRS        or other DL signals with high QoS may be given a higher priority        while positioning reports based on measurement of PRS or other        DL signals with low QoS may be given a lower priority, e.g.,        there may be an association between the positioning QoS and the        mapping into a specific SRB.    -   In some aspects, a separate message may be received by the        network that determines whether a specific positioning        request/session/set of measurements should be mapped into a        specific SRB. In some aspects, that message may be carried in an        RRC or MAC-CE or LPP.    -   In some aspects, the UE may determine that a specific report is        a high-priority one depending on how it is triggered. For        example, if the report is triggered by DCI, or it is associated        with an on-demand/aperiodic/semi-persistent PRS, then the        corresponding measurements may be associated with a high        priority SRB (e.g., SRB1).    -   In some aspects, any on-demand request by the UE (e.g., which        resources to be transmitted, which PRS resources to be used,        which TRPs to transmit PRS), may be associated with a high        priority SRB (e.g., SRB1).

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method 700 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates aninteraction between a UE 302 and a network entity 306, which may be abase station, a location server, another network entity, or somecombination thereof.

At 702, the network entity 306 optionally sends a positioning reportingmapping to the UE. In some aspects, the positioning reporting mappingmay be sent via RRC, MAC-CE, or LPP. The positioning reporting mappingmaps positioning reports to one of multiple MAC-CE logical channel IDs,to one of multiple SRBs, or to one of a set of resources that includesboth MAC-CE logical channel IDs and SRBs. In some aspects, thepositioning report may be mapped to one or another MAC-CE logicalchannel ID or SRB based on a priority associated with the positioningreport. In some aspects, the priority associated with the positioningreport may be based on a mapping of positioning QoS (e.g., a QoS of thepositioning session) to priority, based on how the positioning reportwas triggered, based on some other criterion, or a combination thereof.The positioning report is based on a positioning measurement, which maybe performed at the request of the network entity 306 or at theinitiative of the UE 302. Thus, in some aspects, at 704, the networkentity 306 optionally sends a location request to the UE 302. In someaspects, this request triggers the positioning measurement 708. In otheraspects, at 706, the UE 302 optionally sends an on-demand request forPRS resources, the request including parameters, e.g., identifyingspecific resources, TRPs, etc. In some aspects, this request triggersthe positioning measurement 708.

At 708, the UE 302 performs a positioning measurement, e.g., bymeasuring a PRS, and prepares a positioning report for uplink. In someaspects, the selection of MAC-CE logical channel (for lower levelreporting) or SRB (for higher level reporting) is based at least in parton a priority associated with the positioning report. Thus, optionally,at 710, the UE 302 determines a priority of the positioning report. At712, the UE 302 associates the positioning report to a MAC-CE logicalchannel ID and/or to an SRB, and at 714, the UE 302 sends thepositioning report to the network entity 306 via the MAC-CE logicalchannel ID and/or SRB that was associated to the positioning report.

At 716, the network entity 306 determines the priority of thepositioning report based on the MAC-CE logical channel ID and/or SRBthat was used.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example process 800 associated withprioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink. In someimplementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 8 may be performedby a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104). In some implementations, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 8 may be performed by another device or agroup of devices separate from or including the UE. Additionally, oralternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 8 may be performed byone or more components of UE 302, such as processor(s) 332, memory 340,WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320,satellite signal receiver 330, sensor(s) 344, user interface 346, andpositioning component(s) 342, any or all of which may be means forperforming the operations of process 800.

As shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may include identifying at least onecommunication resource from a plurality of communication resources fortransmitting a positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities (block 810). Means for performing the operation ofblock 810 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWANtransceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may identifythe at least one communication resource from a plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting a positioning report, e.g.,using a mapping stored in memory 340.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying the at least one communication resource accordingto a mapping that associates a positioning report priority to one ormore of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of adownlink signal and wherein a priority of the positioning report to betransmitted is based on a mapping of positioning quality of service(QoS) to priority.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report to betransmitted is based on a horizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, aresponse time, a velocity request, a vertical coordinate request, or acombination thereof, associated with the positioning QoS.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying at least one communication resource having a firstpriority if the positioning report to be transmitted is associated witha high positioning QoS and identifying at least one communicationresource having a second priority lower than the first priority if thepositioning report to be transmitted is associated with a lowpositioning QoS.

In some aspects, a priority of the positioning report to be transmittedis based on a mapping of a trigger type of the positioning report topriority.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying at least one communication resource having a firstpriority if the positioning report was triggered by downlink controlinformation (DCI) and identifying at least one communication resourcehaving a second priority if the positioning report is associated with anon-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying the least one communication resource according toa mapping that associates a specific request, session, set ofmeasurements, or a combination thereof, to one or more of the pluralityof communication resources for transmitting the positioning report.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying the at least one communication resource based onparameters within an on-demand request by the UE.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resourcebased on the parameters within the on-demand request by the UE comprisesidentifying the at least one communication resource based on whichresources are to be transmitted, which PRS resources are to be used,which transmission reception points are to transmit reference signals,or a combination thereof.

As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may include transmitting thepositioning report via the at least one communication resource, whereinthe at least one communication resource comprises at least one of amedium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel IDor a signaling radio bearer (SRB) (block 820). Means for performing theoperation of block 820 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, orWWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 maytransmit the positioning report via the at least one communicationresource, using transmitter(s) 314. In some implementations, the atleast one communication resource comprises at least one of a mediumaccess control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or asignaling radio bearer (SRB).

In some aspects, transmitting the positioning report via the at leastone communication resource comprises transmitting the positioning reportvia at least one of a plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs,transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality ofSRBs, or transmitting the positioning report via at least one of aplurality comprising at least one MAC-CE logical channel ID and at leastone SRB.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies one or more of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report, andwherein transmitting the positioning report via the at least onecommunication resource comprises transmitting the positioning report viathe one or more communication resources specified by the locationrequest.

Process 800 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein. Although FIG. 8 shows example blocks of process 800,in some implementations, process 800 may include additional blocks,fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks thanthose depicted in FIG. 8. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more ofthe blocks of process 800 may be performed in parallel.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example process 900 associated withprioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink. In someimplementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performedby a network entity (e.g., location server 172, location server 230,etc.). In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 maybe performed by another device or a group of devices separate from orincluding the network entity. Additionally, or alternatively, one ormore process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed by one or more componentsof network entity 306, such as processor(s) 394, memory 396, networktransceiver(s) 390, and positioning component(s) 398, any or all ofwhich may be means for performing the operations of process 900.

As shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include transmitting, to a userequipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at leastone communication resource from a plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities (block 910). Means for performing the operation ofblock 910 may include the processor(s) 394, memory 396, or networktransceiver(s) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the networkentity 306 may transmit, to a user equipment (UE), information formapping a positioning report to at least one communication resource froma plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities, using thenetwork interface(s) 390.

In some aspects, transmitting the information for mapping thepositioning report to the at least one communication resource from theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport comprises transmitting a mapping that associates a specificrequest, session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to atleast one of the plurality of communication resources, associates aspecific positioning report priority to at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources, or a combination thereof.

As further shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include receiving, from theUE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report (block920). Means for performing the operation of block 920 may include theprocessor(s) 394, memory 396, or network transceiver(s) 390 of thenetwork entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may receive,from the UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report, usingthe network interface(s) 390.

As further shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include determining apriority of the positioning report based on the at least one of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises atleast one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB) (block 930). Meansfor performing the operation of block 930 may include the processor(s)394, memory 396, or network transceiver(s) 390 of the network entity306. For example, the processor(s) 394 of the network entity 306 maydetermine a priority of the positioning report based on thecommunication resource, using a mapping stored in the memory 396. Insome implementations, the at least one communication resource comprisesat least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

In some aspects, determining the priority of the positioning reportbased on the at least one of the plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report comprises determining thepriority of the positioning report based on the information for mapping.

Process 900 may include additional implementations, such as any singleimplementation or any combination of implementations described belowand/or in connection with one or more other processes describedelsewhere herein. Although FIG. 9 shows example blocks of process 900,in some implementations, process 900 may include additional blocks,fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks thanthose depicted in FIG. 9. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more ofthe blocks of process 900 may be performed in parallel.

Among the various technical advantages provided by the various aspectsdisclosed herein, in at least some aspects, the prioritization ofpositioning-related reports in uplink provide at least the technicaladvantage of providing a mechanism which can selectively increase thelikelihood that high-priority positioning information will be includedin an UL transmission.

In the detailed description above it can be seen that different featuresare grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should notbe understood as an intention that the example clauses have morefeatures than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, thevarious aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features ofan individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clausesshould hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, whereineach clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although eachdependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination withone of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are notlimited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that otherexample clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clauseaspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause orindependent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependentand independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expresslyinclude these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can bereadily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g.,contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulatorand a conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of aclause can be included in any other independent clause, even if theclause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE), comprising: identifying at least one communicationresource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting apositioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities; andtransmitting the positioning report via the at least one communicationresource, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises atleast one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein transmitting the positioningreport via the at least one communication resource comprises:transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs; transmitting the positioning report via atleast one of a plurality of SRBs; or transmitting the positioning reportvia at least one of a plurality comprising at least one MAC-CE logicalchannel ID and at least one SRB.

Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the positioningreport was generated in response to a location request that specifiesone or more of the plurality of communication resources for transmittingthe positioning report, and wherein transmitting the positioning reportvia the at least one communication resource comprises transmitting thepositioning report via the one or more communication resources specifiedby the location request.

Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein identifying theat least one communication resource comprises identifying the at leastone communication resource according to a mapping that associates apositioning report priority to one or more of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report.

Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the positioningreport is based on measurement of a downlink signal and wherein apriority of the positioning report to be transmitted is based on amapping of positioning quality of service (QoS) to priority.

Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a horizontal accuracy,a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocity request, a verticalcoordinate request, or a combination thereof, associated with thepositioning QoS.

Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 5 to 6, wherein identifying theat least one communication resource comprises identifying at least onecommunication resource having a first priority if the positioning reportto be transmitted is associated with a high positioning QoS andidentifying at least one communication resource having a second prioritylower than the first priority if the positioning report to betransmitted is associated with a low positioning QoS.

Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 4 to 7, wherein a priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of a triggertype of the positioning report to priority.

Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein identifying the at least onecommunication resource comprises identifying at least one communicationresource having a first priority if the positioning report was triggeredby downlink control information (DCI) and identifying at least onecommunication resource having a second priority if the positioningreport is associated with an on-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistentPRS.

Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein identifying theat least one communication resource comprises identifying the least onecommunication resource according to a mapping that associates a specificrequest, session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to oneor more of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report.

Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein identifying theat least one communication resource comprises identifying the at leastone communication resource based on parameters within an on-demandrequest by the UE.

Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein identifying the at least onecommunication resource based on the parameters within the on-demandrequest by the UE comprises identifying the at least one communicationresource based on which resources are to be transmitted, which PRSresources are to be used, which transmission reception points are totransmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

Clause 13. A method of wireless communication performed by a networkentity, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), informationfor mapping a positioning report to at least one communication resourcefrom a plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities;receiving, from the UE, a positioning report via at least one of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport; and determining a priority of the positioning report based onthe at least one of the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report, wherein the at least onecommunication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control(MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radiobearer (SRB).

Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein transmitting the informationfor mapping the positioning report to the at least one communicationresource from the plurality of communication resources for transmittingthe positioning report comprises transmitting a mapping that: associatesa specific request, session, set of measurements, or a combinationthereof, to at least one of the plurality of communication resources;associates a specific positioning report priority to at least one of theplurality of communication resources; or a combination thereof.

Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein determining the priority ofthe positioning report based on the at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning reportcomprises determining the priority of the positioning report based onthe information for mapping.

Clause 16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: identify at least one communication resource from aplurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioningreport, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities; andtransmit, via the at least one transceiver, the positioning report viathe at least one communication resource, wherein the at least onecommunication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control(MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radiobearer (SRB).

Clause 17. The UE of clause 16, wherein, to transmit the positioningreport via the at least one communication resource, the at least oneprocessor is configured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver,the positioning report via at least one of a plurality of MAC-CE logicalchannel IDs; transmit, via the at least one transceiver, the positioningreport via at least one of a plurality of SRBs; or transmit, via the atleast one transceiver, the positioning report via at least one of aplurality comprising at least one MAC-CE logical channel ID and at leastone SRB.

Clause 18. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein the positioningreport was generated in response to a location request that specifiesone or more of the plurality of communication resources for transmittingthe positioning report, and wherein transmitting the positioning reportvia the at least one communication resource comprises transmitting thepositioning report via the one or more communication resources specifiedby the location request.

Clause 19. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 18, wherein, to identify theat least one communication resource, the at least one processor isconfigured to identify the at least one communication resource accordingto a mapping that associates a positioning report priority to one ormore of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report.

Clause 20. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 19, wherein the positioningreport is based on measurement of a downlink signal and wherein apriority of the positioning report to be transmitted is based on amapping of positioning quality of service (QoS) to priority.

Clause 21. The UE of clause 20, wherein the priority of the positioningreport to be transmitted is based on a horizontal accuracy, a verticalaccuracy, a response time, a velocity request, a vertical coordinaterequest, or a combination thereof, associated with the positioning QoS.

Clause 22. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 21, wherein, to identify theat least one communication resource, the at least one processor isconfigured to identify at least one communication resource having afirst priority if the positioning report to be transmitted is associatedwith a high positioning QoS and identifying at least one communicationresource having a second priority lower than the first priority if thepositioning report to be transmitted is associated with a lowpositioning QoS.

Clause 23. The UE of any of clauses 19 to 22, wherein a priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of a triggertype of the positioning report to priority.

Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein, to identify the at least onecommunication resource, the at least one processor is configured toidentify at least one communication resource having a first priority ifthe positioning report was triggered by downlink control information(DCI) and identifying at least one communication resource having asecond priority if the positioning report is associated with anon-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

Clause 25. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 24, wherein, to identify theat least one communication resource, the at least one processor isconfigured to identify the least one communication resource according toa mapping that associates a specific request, session, set ofmeasurements, or a combination thereof, to one or more of the pluralityof communication resources for transmitting the positioning report.

Clause 26. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 25, wherein, to identify theat least one communication resource, the at least one processor isconfigured to identify the at least one communication resource based onparameters within an on-demand request by the UE.

Clause 27. The UE of clause 26, wherein, to identify the at least onecommunication resource based on the parameters within the on-demandrequest by the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identifythe at least one communication resource based on which resources are tobe transmitted, which PRS resources are to be used, which transmissionreception points are to transmit reference signals, or a combinationthereof.

Clause 28. A network entity, comprising: a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a userequipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at leastone communication resource from a plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities; receive, via the at least one transceiver, fromthe UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report; anddetermine a priority of the positioning report based on the at least oneof the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report, wherein the at least one communication resourcecomprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element(MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

Clause 29. The network entity of clause 28, wherein, to transmit theinformation for mapping the positioning report to the at least onecommunication resource from the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report, the at least one processor isconfigured to transmit a mapping that: associates a specific request,session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to at least oneof the plurality of communication resources; associates a specificpositioning report priority to at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources; or a combination thereof.

Clause 30. The network entity of clause 29, wherein, to determine thepriority of the positioning report based on the at least one of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport, the at least one processor is configured to determine thepriority of the positioning report based on the information for mapping.

Clause 31. An apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver, and aprocessor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, thememory, the transceiver, and the processor configured to perform amethod according to any of clauses 1 to 15.

Clause 32. An apparatus comprising means for performing a methodaccording to any of clauses 1 to 15.

Clause 33. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions, the computer-executable comprising atleast one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform amethod according to any of clauses 1 to 15.

Additional aspects include the following:

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE) includes associating a positioning report to one of aplurality of medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE)logical channel IDs having different priorities; and sending thepositioning report via the associated MAC-CE logical channel ID.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies to which one of the plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs the positioning report should be associated andassociating the positioning report to one of a plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs having different priorities comprises associatingthe positioning report to a MAC-CE logical channel ID as specified bythe location request.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises determining a priority of the positioning report andassociating the positioning report to one of a plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs based on a priority of the positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of apositioning reference signal (PRS) and the priority of the positioningreport is based on a quality of service (QoS) of the PRS.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report is based on ahorizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocityrequest, a vertical coordinate request, or a combination thereof,associated with the positioning QoS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating a positioning report based on a PRS with a highQoS to a MAC-CE logical channel ID with a first priority and associatinga positioning report based on a PRS with a low QoS to a MAC-CE logicalchannel ID with a second priority lower than the first priority.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating the positioning report based on a trigger type ofthe positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is associated to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs according to whether thepositioning report was triggered by downlink control information (DCI),or associated with an on-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs based on the priority of thepositioning report comprises associating the positioning report to oneof the plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs according to a mappingthat associates a positioning report priority to one of the plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating the positioning report to one of a plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs according to a mapping that associates aspecific request, session, set of measurements, or a combinationthereof, to one of the plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating a positioning report based on parameters within anon-demand request by the UE.

In some aspects, associating a positioning report based on parameterswithin an on-demand request by the UE comprises associating apositioning report based on which resources are to be transmitted, whichPRS resources are to be used, which transmission reception points are totransmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE) includes associating a positioning report to one of aplurality of signaling radio bearer (SRBs) having different priorities;and sending the positioning report via the associated SRB.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies to which one of the plurality of SRBsthe positioning report should be associated and associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs having differentpriorities comprises associating the positioning report to a SRB asspecified by the location request.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs based on a priority ofthe positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of apositioning reference signal (PRS) and the priority of the positioningreport is based on a quality of service (QoS) of the PRS.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report is based on ahorizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocityrequest, a vertical coordinate request, or a combination thereof,associated with the PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating apositioning report based on a PRS with a high QoS to a SRB with a firstpriority and associating a positioning report based on a PRS with a lowQoS to a SRB with a second priority lower than the first priority.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report based on a trigger type of the positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is associated to one of aplurality of SRBs according to whether the positioning report wastriggered by downlink control information (DCI), or associated with anon-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs based on the priority of the positioning reportcomprises associating the positioning report to one of the plurality ofSRBs according to a mapping that associates a positioning reportpriority to one of the plurality of SRBs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs according to a mappingthat associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or acombination thereof, to one of the plurality of SRBs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating apositioning report based on parameters within an on-demand request bythe UE.

In some aspects, associating a positioning report based on parameterswithin an on-demand request by the UE comprises associating apositioning report based on which resources are to be transmitted, whichPRS resources are to be used, which transmission reception points are totransmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a networkentity includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information formapping a positioning report to one of a plurality of medium accesscontrol (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) logical channel IDs havingdifferent priorities; receiving, from the UE, a positioning report viaone of the plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs; and determining apriority of the positioning report based on the MAC-CE logical channelID.

In some aspects, transmitting information for mapping a positioningreport to one of a plurality of medium access control (MAC) controlelement (CE) (MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises transmitting a mapping that associates a specific request,session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to one of theplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs, associates a specificpositioning report priority to one of the plurality of MAC-CE logicalchannel IDs, or a combination thereof.

In some aspects, determining the priority of the positioning reportbased on the MAC-CE logical channel ID comprises determining thepriority of the positioning report based on the information for mapping.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a networkentity includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information formapping a positioning report to one of a plurality of signaling radiobearers (SRBs) having different priorities; receiving, from the UE, apositioning report via one of the plurality of SRBs; and determining apriority of the positioning report based on the SRB.

In some aspects, transmitting information for mapping a positioningreport to one of a plurality of SRBs having different prioritiescomprises transmitting a mapping that associates a specific request,session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to one of theplurality of SRBs, associates a specific positioning report priority toone of the plurality of SRBs, or a combination thereof.

In some aspects, determining the priority of the positioning reportbased on the one SRB comprises determining the priority of thepositioning report based on the information for mapping.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: associate a positioning report to one of a plurality ofmedium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) logicalchannel IDs having different priorities; and cause the at least onetransceiver to send the positioning report via the associated MAC-CElogical channel ID.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies to which one of the plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs the positioning report should be associated andassociating the positioning report to one of a plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs having different priorities comprises associatingthe positioning report to a MAC-CE logical channel ID as specified bythe location request.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises determining a priority of the positioning report andassociating the positioning report to one of a plurality of MAC-CElogical channel IDs based on a priority of the positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of apositioning reference signal (PRS) and the priority of the positioningreport is based on a quality of service (QoS) of the PRS.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report is based on ahorizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocityrequest, a vertical coordinate request, or a combination thereof,associated with the PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating a positioning report based on a PRS with a highQoS to a MAC-CE logical channel ID with a first priority and associatinga positioning report based on a PRS with a low QoS to a MAC-CE logicalchannel ID with a second priority lower than the first priority.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating the positioning report based on a trigger type ofthe positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is associated to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs according to whether thepositioning report was triggered by downlink control information (DCI),or associated with an on-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs based on the priority of thepositioning report comprises associating the positioning report to oneof the plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs according to a mappingthat associates a positioning report priority to one of the plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating the positioning report to one of a plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs according to a mapping that associates aspecific request, session, set of measurements, or a combinationthereof, to one of the plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs having different prioritiescomprises associating a positioning report based on parameters within anon-demand request by the UE.

In some aspects, associating a positioning report based on parameterswithin an on-demand request by the UE comprises associating apositioning report based on which resources are to be transmitted, whichPRS resources are to be used, which transmission reception points are totransmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: associate a positioning report to one of a plurality ofsignaling radio bearer (SRBs) having different priorities; and cause theat least one transceiver to send the positioning report via theassociated SRB.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies to which one of the plurality of SRBsthe positioning report should be associated and associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs having differentpriorities comprises associating the positioning report to a SRB asspecified by the location request.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs based on a priority ofthe positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of apositioning reference signal (PRS) and the priority of the positioningreport is based on a quality of service (QoS) of the PRS.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report is based on ahorizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocityrequest, a vertical coordinate request, or a combination thereof,associated with the PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating apositioning report based on a PRS with a high QoS to a SRB with a firstpriority and associating a positioning report based on a PRS with a lowQoS to a SRB with a second priority lower than the first priority.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report based on a trigger type of the positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is associated to one of aplurality of SRBs according to whether the positioning report wastriggered by downlink control information (DCI), or associated with anon-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs based on the priority of the positioning reportcomprises associating the positioning report to one of the plurality ofSRBs according to a mapping that associates a positioning reportpriority to one of the plurality of SRBs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating thepositioning report to one of a plurality of SRBs according to a mappingthat associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or acombination thereof, to one of the plurality of SRBs.

In some aspects, associating the positioning report to one of aplurality of SRBs having different priorities comprises associating apositioning report based on parameters within an on-demand request bythe UE.

In some aspects, associating a positioning report based on parameterswithin an on-demand request by the UE comprises associating apositioning report based on which resources are to be transmitted, whichPRS resources are to be used, which transmission reception points are totransmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

In an aspect, a network entity includes a memory; at least one networkinterface; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one network interface, the at least oneprocessor configured to: cause the at least one network interface totransmit, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping apositioning report to one of a plurality of medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) (MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having differentpriorities; receive, from the UE, a positioning report via one of theplurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs; and determine a priority of thepositioning report based on the MAC-CE logical channel ID.

In an aspect, a network entity includes a memory; at least one networkinterface; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one network interface, the at least oneprocessor configured to: cause the at least one network interface totransmit, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping apositioning report to one of a plurality of signaling radio bearers(SRBs) having different priorities; receive, from the UE, a positioningreport via one of the plurality of SRBs; and determine a priority of thepositioning report based on the SRB.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for associating apositioning report to one of a plurality of medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) (MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having differentpriorities; and means for sending the positioning report via theassociated MAC-CE logical channel ID.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for associating apositioning report to one of a plurality of signaling radio bearer(SRBs) having different priorities; and means for sending thepositioning report via the associated SRB.

In an aspect, a network entity includes means for transmitting, to auser equipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to oneof a plurality of medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)(MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having different priorities; means forreceiving, from the UE, a positioning report via one of the plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs; and means for determining a priority of thepositioning report based on the MAC-CE logical channel ID.

In an aspect, a network entity includes means for transmitting, to auser equipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to oneof a plurality of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) having differentpriorities; means for receiving, from the UE, a positioning report viaone of the plurality of SRBs; and means for determining a priority ofthe positioning report based on the SRB.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions includes at least one instructioninstructing a user equipment (UE) to associate a positioning report toone of a plurality of medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)(MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having different priorities; and at leastone instruction instructing the UE to cause at least one transceiver tosend the positioning report via the associated MAC-CE logical channelID.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions includes at least one instructioninstructing a user equipment (UE) to associate a positioning report toone of a plurality of signaling radio bearer (SRBs) having differentpriorities; and at least one instruction instructing the UE to cause atleast one transceiver to send the positioning report via the associatedSRB.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions includes at least one instructioninstructing a network entity to cause at least one network interface totransmit, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping apositioning report to one of a plurality of medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) (MAC-CE) logical channel IDs having differentpriorities; at least one instruction instructing the network entity toreceive, from the UE, a positioning report via one of the plurality ofMAC-CE logical channel IDs; and at least one instruction instructing thenetwork entity to determine a priority of the positioning report basedon the MAC-CE logical channel ID.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions includes at least one instructioninstructing a network entity to cause at least one network interface totransmit, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping apositioning report to one of a plurality of signaling radio bearers(SRBs) having different priorities; at least one instruction instructingthe network entity to receive, from the UE, a positioning report via oneof the plurality of SRBs; and at least one instruction instructing thenetwork entity to determine a priority of the positioning report basedon the SRB.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, orother programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor maybe a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, two or moremicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthat the processor can read information from, and write information to,the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium mayreside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Inthe alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of thedisclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosureas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication performed by auser equipment (UE), comprising: identifying at least one communicationresource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting apositioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report have different priorities; andtransmitting the positioning report via the at least one communicationresource, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises atleast one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE)logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein transmitting the positioning report via the at leastone communication resource comprises: transmitting the positioningreport via at least one of a plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs;transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality ofSRBs; or transmitting the positioning report via at least one of aplurality comprising at least one MAC-CE logical channel ID and at leastone SRB.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning report wasgenerated in response to a location request that specifies one or moreof the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report, and wherein transmitting the positioning report viathe at least one communication resource comprises transmitting thepositioning report via the one or more communication resources specifiedby the location request.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifyingthe at least one communication resource comprises identifying the atleast one communication resource according to a mapping that associatesa positioning report priority to one or more of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the positioning report is based onmeasurement of a downlink signal and wherein a priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping ofpositioning quality of service (QoS) to priority.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein the priority of the positioning report to be transmitted isbased on a horizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, avelocity request, a vertical coordinate request, or a combinationthereof, associated with the positioning QoS.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein identifying the at least one communication resource comprisesidentifying at least one communication resource having a first priorityif the positioning report to be transmitted is associated with a highpositioning QoS and identifying at least one communication resourcehaving a second priority lower than the first priority if thepositioning report to be transmitted is associated with a lowpositioning QoS.
 8. The method of claim 4, wherein a priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of a triggertype of the positioning report to priority.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein identifying the at least one communication resource comprisesidentifying at least one communication resource having a first priorityif the positioning report was triggered by downlink control information(DCI) and identifying at least one communication resource having asecond priority if the positioning report is associated with anon-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying the at least one communication resource comprisesidentifying the least one communication resource according to a mappingthat associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or acombination thereof, to one or more of the plurality of communicationresources for transmitting the positioning report.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein identifying the at least one communication resourcecomprises identifying the at least one communication resource based onparameters within an on-demand request by the UE.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein identifying the at least one communication resourcebased on the parameters within the on-demand request by the UE comprisesidentifying the at least one communication resource based on whichresources are to be transmitted, which PRS resources are to be used,which transmission reception points are to transmit reference signals,or a combination thereof.
 13. A method of wireless communicationperformed by a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a userequipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at leastone communication resource from a plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities; receiving, from the UE, a positioning report viaat least one of the plurality of communication resources fortransmitting the positioning report; and determining a priority of thepositioning report based on the at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report, whereinthe at least one communication resource comprises at least one of amedium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel IDor a signaling radio bearer (SRB).
 14. The method of claim 13, whereintransmitting the information for mapping the positioning report to theat least one communication resource from the plurality of communicationresources for transmitting the positioning report comprises transmittinga mapping that: associates a specific request, session, set ofmeasurements, or a combination thereof, to at least one of the pluralityof communication resources; associates a specific positioning reportpriority to at least one of the plurality of communication resources; orboth.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the priority ofthe positioning report based on the at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning reportcomprises determining the priority of the positioning report based onthe information for mapping.
 16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: amemory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processorcommunicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver,the at least one processor configured to: identify at least onecommunication resource from a plurality of communication resources fortransmitting a positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities; and transmit, via the at least one transceiver,the positioning report via the at least one communication resource,wherein the at least one communication resource comprises at least oneof a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logicalchannel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).
 17. The UE of claim 16,wherein, to transmit the positioning report via the at least onecommunication resource, the at least one processor is configured to:transmit, via the at least one transceiver, the positioning report viaat least one of a plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs; transmit, viathe at least one transceiver, the positioning report via at least one ofa plurality of SRB s; or transmit, via the at least one transceiver, thepositioning report via at least one of a plurality comprising at leastone MAC-CE logical channel ID and at least one SRB.
 18. The UE of claim16, wherein the positioning report was generated in response to alocation request that specifies one or more of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report, andwherein transmitting the positioning report via the at least onecommunication resource comprises transmitting the positioning report viathe one or more communication resources specified by the locationrequest.
 19. The UE of claim 16, wherein, to identify the at least onecommunication resource, the at least one processor is configured toidentify the at least one communication resource according to a mappingthat associates a positioning report priority to one or more of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport.
 20. The UE of claim 16, wherein the positioning report is basedon measurement of a downlink signal and wherein a priority of thepositioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping ofpositioning quality of service (QoS) to priority.
 21. The UE of claim20, wherein the priority of the positioning report to be transmitted isbased on a horizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, avelocity request, a vertical coordinate request, or a combinationthereof, associated with the positioning QoS.
 22. The UE of claim 20,wherein, to identify the at least one communication resource, the atleast one processor is configured to identify at least one communicationresource having a first priority if the positioning report to betransmitted is associated with a high positioning QoS and identifying atleast one communication resource having a second priority lower than thefirst priority if the positioning report to be transmitted is associatedwith a low positioning QoS.
 23. The UE of claim 19, wherein a priorityof the positioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of atrigger type of the positioning report to priority.
 24. The UE of claim23, wherein, to identify the at least one communication resource, the atleast one processor is configured to identify at least one communicationresource having a first priority if the positioning report was triggeredby downlink control information (DCI) and identifying at least onecommunication resource having a second priority if the positioningreport is associated with an on-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistentPRS.
 25. The UE of claim 16, wherein, to identify the at least onecommunication resource, the at least one processor is configured toidentify the least one communication resource according to a mappingthat associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or acombination thereof, to one or more of the plurality of communicationresources for transmitting the positioning report.
 26. The UE of claim16, wherein, to identify the at least one communication resource, the atleast one processor is configured to identify the at least onecommunication resource based on parameters within an on-demand requestby the UE.
 27. The UE of claim 26, wherein, to identify the at least onecommunication resource based on the parameters within the on-demandrequest by the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identifythe at least one communication resource based on which resources are tobe transmitted, which PRS resources are to be used, which transmissionreception points are to transmit reference signals, or a combinationthereof.
 28. A network entity, comprising: a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a userequipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at leastone communication resource from a plurality of communication resourcesfor transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report havedifferent priorities; receive, via the at least one transceiver, fromthe UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality ofcommunication resources for transmitting the positioning report; anddetermine a priority of the positioning report based on the at least oneof the plurality of communication resources for transmitting thepositioning report, wherein the at least one communication resourcecomprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element(MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).
 29. Thenetwork entity of claim 28, wherein, to transmit the information formapping the positioning report to the at least one communicationresource from the plurality of communication resources for transmittingthe positioning report, the at least one processor is configured totransmit a mapping that: associates a specific request, session, set ofmeasurements, or a combination thereof, to at least one of the pluralityof communication resources; associates a specific positioning reportpriority to at least one of the plurality of communication resources; orboth.
 30. The network entity of claim 29, wherein, to determine thepriority of the positioning report based on the at least one of theplurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioningreport, the at least one processor is configured to determine thepriority of the positioning report based on the information for mapping.